Privacy

Deleted

Is this anything more than what google collects and caches?

Was more information revealed than what you put on your own chess.com homepage?  You have a name listed there-- if that's your real name, real date of birth, and real home town, then you released it to the world, not chess.com.  There's nothing private about a profile page-- the whole purpose of a profile page is to list information that you want everyone to be able to see.

Rule of the thumb:

If any content is viewable by putting an url on any browser's address bar (to be more accurate, a browser without your cookies), it's public. And you have shared your personal information publicly, that is, on http://www.chess.com/members/view/thehermit

You can remove your personal information here:

http://www.chess.com/home/edit_profile.html

If chess.com would disclose your e-mail or your private messages etc. online, that would be a breach of privacy.

To name some trackers viewing this forum now:

• ad4game
• Addthis
• Facebook Connect
• Google Adsense
• Google Analytics
• Quantcast

I had not thought of using the Google browser to check my name, when I tried it, I did not find the chess.com info, although it might be there somewhere. What did surprise me was that the chess club I'm a member of has a website, with a list of players and gradings, and there I am, with my grading, club and current team. This must somehow have been extracted from the club's web page. It just shows that if any of your details are on the web somewhere, they are not private.

Hello,

I too have had my privacy breached.

The other evening I wrote my name, address, date of birth, and telephone number on the wall of a public toilet.

I now have lots of strange men phoning me and coming to my house.

This is a gross breach of privacy, and I would like someone to explain how this is possible.

I am very seriously upset about this, and want answers.

as far as I know, when you login to the site (whatever the site is..) and give your personal data information,or make a post or comment, then automatically you will tracked by google, once you was connecting in the net, there is no privacy at all..

Hands down the best post I have ever seen on this site.  A little dry humor is so called for here.

tunatin, you sent me a message asking about this, but I'm unable to respond to you -- fittingly, because of your privacy settings.

To answer your question, you do appear to be in Uraguay on the interactive map.

Oh, I think you want more than just answers....

There is no privacy on the internet. Any information you put there can be obtained by a determined person. Private pages just take more effort.

[edit: chess.com profile pages are not private]

Your real name and part location is on your homepage which would have been added by you when you joined the site or edited later when you update your profile.

As you've never upgraded, there would have been no time where you've given us any other personal details, therefore we have never possessed details of your home address.

When you join the site, all details you add during the joining process can be edited/removed after the joining process it complete. Adding real name to the joining process is optional.

At no time does Chess.com staff give out personal details about past or present members.

http://www.chess.com/legal.html#termsofservice

Chess.com does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except to provide products or services you've requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:

• We provide the information to trusted partners who work on behalf of or with Chess.com under confidentiality agreements. These companies may use your personal information to help Chess.com communicate with you about offers from Chess.com and our marketing partners. However, these companies do not have any independent right to share this information.
• We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
• We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Chess.com's terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.
• We transfer information about you if Chess.com is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, Chess.com will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

I certainly hope there is at least some privacy on the interent.  I do my banking here.

A good habit to groom in yourself is to ask yourself, anytime you're entering anything into an entry field on a web-site whether you'd want the general public to have access to this information, and if the answer is no, to really ensure you understand the privacy policy of the site, specifically with respect to the information you're about to provide.  This will ensure that you've done your duediligence and are comfortable that your not disclosing information to a wider audience than you care to.  When in doubt, don't fill it out.

On this site, our profiles are open to the general public (not just fellow members), and assorted search engine bots & caching mechanisms. 

When you join a new site, since this is a concern you have, I suggest you 'check' (google, yahoo, alta vista, etc.) your site profile early on and before you add to any profile what you consider might be confidential information.  Allow a few weeks for search engines to catch up with site updates.

For now, I suggest you edit out any info on your Profile that you would rather not have published on the internet and readily found by the curious. 

Eventually, your earlier information will no longer be readily accessible by people visiting search engines and the caches stored by those search engines.

sftac

ps.  And, not all search engines respect a site's web-bot html 'instruction' not to scan or cache webpages.  eg. I note that google does not cache your profile page but Yahoo search does (and shows the version cached back when only 38 people had viewed your profile).

I do my banking on the internet also. The only reason I feel slightly secure is that the vast majority of people out there don't have the expertise to hack my bank's servers. It's also not worthwhile tapping into an individual's secure connection with a bank. Just reading the headlines about how many credit card companies, retailers, government institutions, etc. get hacked should say something about the security of the internet.

Well, sure, but isn't that kind of like saying that there's no privacy in the home because someone could look in my windows?  Or worse -- if I had my blinds drawn and was in a room without any windows that someone could break in and watch me and so my home is inherently public?

Someone looking in my windows may only catch me picking my nose. Someone monitoring my internet usage, through an unsecured router for instance, can be a lot more dangerous.

Breaking into a home is usually a visible act that must be performed quickly and quietly to avoid being caught. An internet hacker can take all the time they need.

I'm not really paranoid. It's just that everyone is out to get me.